The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-05-04
JOHN c. CALHOUN.
Grafton of Hon. L. @. C. Lamar,
Ar THE UNWILLING on THE STATUE
ERECTED BY THE LADIES, IN CHAR
LESION, TUESDAY, APRIL %, 1887.

LESION, TUESDAY, APRIL %, 1887.
We are assembled to unvail the statue
which has been erected to commemorate
the life and services Of John Caldwell
Calhoun. 1t is an interesting fact thst
this statue is reared, not in the center of
nation), or in the emporium of Ameri-
can material civilization, but in his own
native State, where he lived all his life
and where he was buried. This circum-
stance is in harmony with the life and
character of the man. One of the most
impressive traits of that life and charac-
ter was the attachment between himself
and the people of South Carolina. His
devotion 10 their welfare was sleepless,
and they always felt deep, unfaltering,
proud, and atfectionate reliance upon
his wisdom and leadership. This faith
in him grew out of the fact that he was,
notwithstanding his imposing position
as national statesman, home man; a
man identified in sentiment and sympa-
thy with his own people, who, as neigh
bors and personal friends, standing face
to face with him, had that insight into
his private life and character which Is
seldom, if ever, obtained in the public
arena-the real life of the man, the life
of motive and purpose and feeling. In
this intimacy of personal intercourse,
wherein the qualities of mind and heart
are unconsciously drawn out, there was
| revealed to them noble, lovely charac-
| ter, full of tenderness and self-sacrifice,
| gentleness and candor, and a simplicity
and beautiful truth of soul which made
him the light of their eyes and the pride
of their hearts.
Mr.. Calhoun had a profound faith in
the worth and dignity and destiny of
man as the noblest of all Gods creatures
on earth, endowed with those great
| faculties and capacities which fit him,
through society and free institutions,
under divine superintendent, for pro-
gress, development and perfection. Con
| scious of his own great powers he must
have been; but exalted as he was in pc.
sition, thought and purpose, so far was
he from feeling that these advantages
lifted him above and apart from the
mass of men, that he regarded them as
so many ties of union and brotherhood
with his fellow-men, to be consecrated
to their welfare and happiness. When
ever, therefore, he returned from the
brilliant scenes of the national capita
to his home, instead of coming among
them as great Senator, to be admired a
distance, he met the people as friend:
and brothers, all of whom, of every
degree and class and character, felt il
the heart-warm grasp of his hand +;
friendship that entered with deep anC
unaffected sympathy into their feelings
their interests, their wants, their sorrow
and their Joys.
Their instructive perception of tn
genuine greatness of the man, of hi
open hearted largeness of nature, tn
simple, transformations, disinterested con
secration of mind and heart to the pro
! motion of the virtue and happiness ant
liberty of his people, naturally drey
them into closer attachment, deepe
E and an almost personal cooperation i
! his aims and purposes.
. A SOUTHERN Planters HOME.
When not in the actual discharge G
his official duties he spent his time i
retirement at his private home at For
Hill. He was occupied in agriculture
in which he took the deepest Interest
!. Would that | had the power to po1tra
| d 6OuIutIu DIdDbCI > UOult 116 SWCt
and noble associations, the pure, refinin
and elevating atmosphere of househol
presided over by a Southern matrCn
the abode of domestic joys and duties
''the peaceful yet active life of larg
land owner-occupation full of interes
[. and high moral responsibilities; th
alliance between mans intellect an
natures laws of production; the hosp
tality, heartfelt, simple and generous.
:, The Southern planter was far fror
being the self-indulgent, indOlent, coars
, and overbearing person that he ha
sometimes been pictured. He was, j
= general, careful, patient, provident, il
dustrious, forbearing and yet firm an
, determined. These were the qualitie
which enabled him to take race of III
tanned sayages, with habits that coul
d only inspire disgust, with no arts, u
single tradition of civilization, and GU
of such people to make the finest bod
of agricultural and domestic laborel
that the world has ever seen; and, il
- deed, to elevate them in the scale {
rational existence to such height as t
cause them to be deemed fit for admi
Il sion into the charmed circle of Amer
can freedom, and to be clothed with til
rights and duties of American citizeI
ship.
The Southern planter penetrated tt
dense forests, the tangled brake, til
: gloomy wilderness of our river swamp
where pestilence had its abode, an
there, day by day and year by yea
3, amidst exposure, hardships, and sicl
e ness, his foresight, his prudence, hi
l. self-reliance, his adaptation of means
ends, were called into requisition. |
e the communion with himself, in tn
{ opportunities for continued study, an
g in the daily and yearly provision for
y numerous body of Experimentation a
of whom he felt himself responsible
about whom his anxieties were eve
:. alive, whose tasks he apportioned an
whose labors he directed-he was edt
Gated in those faculties and persons
qualities which enabled him to emery
= from his solitude and preside Ia Ia
. county court, or become a member G
his State Legislature; to discharge tn
duties of local magistracy, or to tax
his place in the national councils.
The solution of the enigma of the SC
: called slave power may be sought here
, Its basis lay IN that cool, vigorous iuda
ment and unerring sense applicable t
the ordinary affairs and intercourse O
men which the Southern mode of lif
engendered and fostered The habits O
industry, frmness of purpose, fidelity t
dependents, self-reliance, and the sent
ment of justice in all the various rela
tions of life which were necessary to tn
management of a well-ordered planta
ton, fitted men to guide Legislature
and command armies.
In confirmation of what | saw, hav
only to point to the fact that it was il
such communities as these that a Wash
ington, Jackson, Taylor, Lee, ant
a host of others, acquired those qualitie
which enabled them, in the position il
which their country placed them, I,
add such undying luster to the Ameri
can name. 1t was in such communitie
: that men like Jefferson, Madison, Mon
roe, Polk, Lowndes, Calhoun, CLAW
!. Macon, Marshall, fancy, and man,
others whom | could mention, acquired
those characteristics which their coun
trymen both North and South instinct
lively discerned whenever they wer,
"called upon to face some awful momen
to which Heaven has joined grea
issues, good or bad, for human kind"
HIS INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS Te
HIS AGE.
Another reason why this statue should
be erected to his memory is that it i:
due to him for his intellectual contribu
tions to the age in which he lived
Apart from his career as a statesman in
the House of Representatives, where ht
was conspicuous by his nationality in
maintaining the Independence of his
country among the powers of the world